Matt Striker
Matthew Kaye (born June 26, 1974) is an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name Matt Striker. He is signed to WWE for Extreme (WWEFE, or just WWE), where he competes on its RAW program, as well as serves as the host of WWE NXT. After obtaining a Master's degree in educational psychology, Kaye began working as a high-school teacher. He also began a career in professional wrestling, and made his debut in 2000 after being trained by Johnny Rodz. In his first year as a wrestler he won 10 different championships, and went on to become a mainstay on the independent circuit in the New York region. He toured Japan with the Pro Wrestling Zero1 promotion in late 2004 and early 2005. In early 2005, Kaye quit his full-time teaching job at Benjamin N. Cardozo High School, when the school board found out that he had been using sick days as a way to pursue his wrestling career. Kaye signed a contract with WWE in mid-2005, calling himself Matt Striker, and quickly developed a persona of a heel (villainous) teacher. He started out on the RAW brand, where he hosted a segment known as Matt Striker's Classroom, before being taken off television in 2006. In April 2008, Striker began working as the color commentator on ECW until it closed. He would later appear as the host of NXT and began competing on RAW. Teaching career After obtaining a bachelor's degree in history and a master's degree in educational psychology, Kaye began working as a high school teacher. He worked part-time as a substitute, filling in when other teachers were on leave. In mid-2004, he was hired full-time as a social studies teacher at Benjamin N. Cardozo High School in Queens, New York, but continued to wrestle part-time during his vacation time and on weekends. He resigned from his position as a teacher, however, when the school found out that he was using sick days as an excuse to keep up with his wrestling commitments. According to the school system's Special Commissioner of Investigation, Kaye falsely claimed 11 sick days in December 2004 and February 2005, during which time he was actually wrestling in Japan. Kaye later said in an interview that he would have taken personal days instead of sick days, but he "didn't know there was a difference". The school system's Special Commissioner of Investigation recommended Kaye's dismissal and also recommended that he should be considered ineligible for future employment in schools, and as a result, Kaye chose to resign in April 2005 upon advice from his lawyer. Professional wrestling career Early career (2000–2005) After being trained by Johnny Rodz at Gleason's Gym in New York City, Kaye made his debut in 2000. He initially worked for small independent promotions and quickly achieved success, winning 10 different championships during his first year. He also participated in the King of the Ring 2002 commercials. He wrestled for World of Unpredictable Wrestling (WUW), where he won the WUW Continental Championship, Total Professional Wrestling, where he won the Light Heavyweight Championship and held the Tag Team Championship with Red Flair, and the East Coast Wrestling Association, where he won the ECWA Tag Team Championship with Ace Darling in February 2003. The pair held the championship for seven months, until losing it in September. He also worked for Connecticut Championship Wrestling, and won the promotion's main championship in February 2004, by winning a tournament. Also in early 2004, he teamed with Josh Daniels to win the PWF Tag Team Championship, and with Simon Diamond to win the USA Pro Wrestling's tag team championship. On June 19, Striker and Diamond lost the USA Pro Wrestling Tag Team Championship at a USA Pro Wrestling Show. A few hours later that same night, he appeared at a Pro-Pain Pro Wrestling (3PW) show as "The Ultimate Striker", an impersonation of The Ultimate Warrior and teamed with Rob Eckos in a loss to "Slyck" Wager Brown and April Hunter. He also appeared for 3PW impersonating "The Macho Man" Randy Savage, The Sandman, Sabu, Hulk Hogan, and Ric Flair. On August 21, 2004, he and Eckos entered a tag team battle royal as The Bushwhackers, the Road Warriors, and the team of the Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff. While working full-time as a teacher in 2004, he continued to wrestle during his vacation time and weekends, and using sick days. On December 16, 2004, Striker began a tour of Japan with Pro Wrestling Zero1, and was later invited back for an extended tour in early 2005. After resigning from his teaching position, he continued to wrestle around New York, and on April 30, 2005, won the New York Wrestling Connection (NYWC)'s Heavyweight Championship by defeating Mike Mondo. A few weeks later, on May 21, while still the Heavyweight Champion, he defeated Joey Braggiol to win the NYWC Interstate Championship, but only held the championship for two weeks, before losing it back to Braggiol on June 4. He made a few appearances for Ring of Honor in mid-2005, before returning to NYWC to lose the Heavyweight Championship to Jerry Lynn on July 30, after holding it for four months. He continued to wrestle for independent promotions throughout mid-2005, until he signed a contract with WWE. World Wrestling Entertainment / WWE Early appearances (2005) Kaye wrestled Kurt Angle, using the name Matt Martel, in an invitational match on the February 24, 2005 episode of SmackDown! in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. After the revelation that Kaye was a teacher appeared in mainstream news publications, Kaye made a WWE second appearance on the July 11, 2005 episode of RAW to face Angle for a second time, again using the name Matt Martel. His news coverage was played up by Angle, who told the audience that Martel was really Striker, and Angle defeated him again in under three minutes. The following week, he appeared on RAW again, still claiming to be called Matt Martel, and challenged Angle again. Angle exposed him as Matt Striker again, before defeating him for the third consecutive time. Striker went on to compete on Heat and appear in WWE's developmental territory, Deep South Wrestling. RAW (2005–2006) Striker developed a heel (villainous) teacher gimmick, calling WWE his school and hosting a segment called Matt Striker's Classroom on RAW, which debuted on December 12. During the segment he ridiculed the audience, and treated the crowd as intellectual inferiors. During a match against Lance Cade at an untelevised event on December 18, Striker suffered a shoulder injury. He was out of action until January 23, 2006, when he continued his Classroom segments once again, and then appeared mainly on Heat for several weeks. Striker would reappear on RAW on April 17 for another classroom segment where he claimed that "school is cool". Carlito, another wrestler, took exception to Striker's statement, and spat an apple in Striker's face, in keeping with Carlito's gimmick. Following the start of the For Extreme Era, Striker was taken off television and moved to WWE developmental territory, Florida Championship Wrestling. Commentator (2006-2008) Striker was moved to Florida Championship Wrestling, where he wrestled rarely and soon became the territory's color commentator. He was widely praised for his work in the area, and was later brought back to televised WWE events. In early 2008, Striker returned to ECW to take over Tazz's duties as color commentator, thus turning Striker face. He made his televised commentary debut on the April 29 episode of ECW. He stayed in that position, commentating alongside Joey Styles until the show's final episode on July 22. NXT host (2008-present) On the inaugural episode of NXT on February 28, 2008, Striker was announced as the host of the show. As well as interviewing the wrestlers, Striker's host role resulted in him acting as the Master of Ceremonies for the Pro's Poll and for the various challenges each week, explaining the rules and announcing the winners. Return to RAW (2009-present) Striker appeared on the January 5, 2009 episode of RAW, again hosting his Matt Striker's Classroom segment. On the following episode, Striker wrestled his first match in three years against Matt Sydal, losing in a competitive match. The following week, the last raw before the Royal Rumble, Striker defeated TJ the Samoan to qualify for one of the two remaining rumble spots. Personal life Kaye was a child actor, and had roles in the films Wise Guys and Child Savers. He played hockey and football. In college, Kaye earned a Bachelor's degree in History, and went on to obtain a Master's degree in educational psychology. In wrestling .]] *'Finishing moves' **''Golden Rule'' (Inverted overdrive) – 2006–2008 **''Happy Monkey Submission'' (Rear naked choke) – independent circuit **Overdrive – 2005–2006 *'Signature moves' **Big boot **Double knee backbreaker **Fujiwara armbar **Gory Bomb **Neck snap **Rope-hung swinging neckbreaker **Schoolboy **Single leg Boston crab **''Skayde Lock'' (Standing STF) **Sunset flip pin *'Nicknames' **"The Modern Marvel"(MLW) **"Hot Stuff" (3PW) **"Macho Man" (3PW) **'Your Teacher' (WWE) *'Entrance themes' **'World Wrestling Entertainment/WWE for Extreme' ***'As Matt Striker' ****'"Teacher" by Jim Johnston' (December 12, 2005 - Present) Championships and accomplishments *'Assault Championship Wrestling' **ACW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Scotty Charisma *'Connecticut Championship Wrestling' **CCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *'East Coast Wrestling Association' **ECWA Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Ace Darling *'New York Wrestling Connection' **NYWC Heavyweight Championship (1 time) **NYWC Interstate Championship (1 time) *'Premier Wrestling Federation' **PWF Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Josh Daniels *'Pro Wrestling Illustrated' **PWI ranked him #'166' of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2006 *'Total Professional Wrestling' **TPW Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time) **TPW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Red Flair *'USA Pro Wrestling' **USA Pro New York State Championship (1 time) **USA Pro Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Simon Diamond *'World of Unpredictable Wrestling' **WUW Continental Championship (1 time) Category:1974 births Category:WWE for Extreme Category:Announcers Category:WWE NXT